Bird Feeder
by Piper Emerald
Summary: Being in the same room as Levi felt like being the protagonist of one of John Green's—Eren was pretty sure that's what Armin said the author's name was—books. Except Eren wasn't a witty, curly-haired, girl and there was no chance that Levi would be caught dead talking to him. (I own nothing.)


There are two birds that live at his high school. Eren has seen them on multiple occasions. One is very loud, he thinks this bird is a baby but he doesn't know for sure. The baby bird has a brown head and a black body and chirps every two seconds. At first the chirping was annoying, but when he noticed how fluffy the bird was the chatter was instantly cute.

The other bird has a red head. He thinks this is the mother bird, because he's seen her feed the baby, and the baby tends to follow her around like he needs the guidance. The mother has a more mature chirp, and Eren doesn't mind the sound of it.

By the third week of his freshman year he has seen the birds three times. The first was during the summer, the other two times was during his free period. He likes to do his homework outside, he always felt cooped up in the library.

That day, when he arrived at his usual table he saw that someone had left a half finished scone in a paper bag sitting there. No one cleaned up their trash at the school. Stuff like that has never really bothered him, so he sat down without taking much note of it. He was about to start working when he heard a chirp next to him.

The mother bird sat perched on the neighboring table. Eren spent a few minutes watching her flutter about, collecting crumbs that careless students dropped on the ground. Maybe it's because he hasn't moved, but for some reason she doesn't mind approaching him. Soon she's under his table, then on the bench next to him.

Armin once told Eren that it's a bad idea to look animals in the eye—something about challenging predatory instincts—but when Eren looked at the bird, he thought that she was trying to ask for something. He glanced back to the paper bag sitting on the table.

The courtyard was deserted aside from himself. Not a lot of people had a free this period. Slowly he reached for the bag, the bird was still close to him and he didn't want to startle her. In a smooth motion he tossed the bag under the bench next to him. Immediately the bird fluttered down to the food. She cautiously stuck her head into the bag, then fluttered out with a piece in her mouth.

Eren watched her go through this motion a few times. Then she suddenly flew away. His gaze wanted to follow her, but the sun obstructed his view. He was about to turn his attention to his math homework when he heard chatter behind him. In seconds the mother bird was back with the baby bird hesitantly following her.

She stuck her head into the paper bag again and hopped to where the baby bird was perched. Eren watched her feed the crumb to the baby. The shrill chirp makes it's delight clear. The mother bird chirped back. Eren hadn't herd her voice much, and it took most of his will power not the laugh at their back and fourth.

The birds were barely three feet away from him. He's surprised the mother let the baby get this close to a human, but he wasn't not complaining. It's entertaining to watch them. The baby hopped around on the ground, but didn't try to fetch a crumb on it's own. He—because Eren had decided that the baby bird was a he—let his mother be the one to enter the bag.

At one point the baby fluttered on the the bench, however. He moved his wings each time that he chirped, whether he's trying to flutter or not. This made Eren fairly certain that the bird is fairly young. He regards Eren without much interest. Compared to food Eren doubts that a boy sitting as still as he can is very interesting.

The bird's breakfast was only interrupted when a group of three students walked through the courtyard. They weren't being particularly noisy, but the baby flew away quickly. The mother bird took another crumb before doing the same. Eren didn't watch them go, instead he fixed his sight on the homework in front of him. He didn't feel like dealing with other people seeing him feed the birds. Not only is this against school rules, but his personality has already made him seen weird enough to the other students.

He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't disappointed that the birds are gone. It makes him sound like a whimsical idiot, but he likes to think that he's befriended them. They took off when other people where the entire courtyard's length away from them, but had no problem eating right next to him. That made him feel good.

"Pick up your trash when you're done."

Eren nearly jumped at the voice. He was certain that he looked more than skittish when he turns his head to look behind him. Sitting three tables down is Levi Ackerman.

Although Eren was only a freshman, he knew a handful of upperclassmen. This was mainly because his dean had placed him in one higher level class: creative writing. For most of his life Eren's grades in English had been less than adequate. Hoever, things changed last year when his teacher started assigning short stories as assignments.

Armin explained it as a knack for storytelling, but all Eren knew was that it was more fun to write about someone he created than bullshit five structured paragraphs. Regardless his dean had placed him in the elective without telling him that he would be the only freshman in his class.

This was how he knew Levi Ackerman, a senior who he was fairly certain hated him. Then again, most of his classmates seemed pissed off that he was there in the first place. Most of these students had to have their work printed in the school magazine junior or sophomore year before the teacher let them into the class. Instead of it being fun for him, Eren felt the looming pressure for him to prove that he belonged there.

He wasn't much for reading, but before school started he looked through a few of the pieces in the magazine. That was enough to make him wish that his classroom floor would just swallow him up already. He didn't think himself all that talented, and it was clear to him that these people were in a different level than he was.

Levi in particular. Eren had showed Levi's piece to Armin and the blond had ended up crying. Eren may have made fun of his friend if he hadn't been near tears himself. There was something about the way that Levi talked through the paper that made Eren feel as if he knew him directly. It made him feel like the story was being spoke to him and him alone. Being in class with someone who could write like that made Eren's ego sizably shrink.

Then the first day of school happened. Then Eren had seen Levi in person for the first time. Then Eren had decided that he would stop making jokes about all of the young adult romance books that Armin read. Being in the same room as Levi felt like being the protagonist of one of John Green's—Eren was pretty sure that's what Armin said the author's name was—books. Except Eren wasn't a witty, curly-haired, girl and there was no chance that Levi would be caught dead talking to him.

At least, that was what Eren had thought until a few second ago.

"Sorry," Eren stammered, looking at the paper bag on the ground. "I'll throw it away."

Levi only grunted in acknowledgment before diverting his attention back to the text book and composition notebook in fornt of him. His open bag was sitting on the bench next to him. Judging by the arrangement of his things, Eren was pretty sure that he'd been sitting there for a while. Eren was probably too focused on the birds to notice his arrival.

Eren felt his face begin to heat up. Exactly how long was Levi sitting there? If he had been there for as long as it looked, then wouldn't he have seen the birds? If he had why did he tell Eren to clean up the paper bag?

Great. Now not only is he the annoying freshman, he's also the weird kid who feeds birds.

Doing his best to push these thoughts aside, Eren tried to focus on the homework in front of him. It was impossible to concentrate or relax. He knew that Levi wasn't watching him, that Levi's attention was on his own work, but it was hard not to imagine that narrow gaze at his back.

Eren's anxiety was broken by a shrill chirp. He looked up in time to watch the mother bird land next to the paper bag that Eren had yet to pick up. With in seconds the baby bird was back as well. Eren had no reason to conceal his grin. He couldn't see how much of the scone was left in the bag, but he had a feeling that the birds usually didn't get this large of a meal. The baby got a little bit closer to the bag this time, but still relied on the mother to feed him.

"Did you finish your poem?"

Eren usually isn't this easy to startle. Either Levi is very good at sneaking up on him, or the birds really were taking up his entire attention span. In any other circumstance Eren would like to think that he would have noticed someone walking up to him, even if they waited until they were directly behind him to speak.

"Yeah," Eren answered shortly.

Why did Levi care if he had done his homework? From the short class discussions that they've had, Eren doubted that he was the type to make casual conversation with a random classmate. No one in that class should want to make casual conversation with Eren at all, least of all Levi Ackerman. Well, whatever Levi's reason for approaching him was, Eren answer must not have satisfied him since he hadn't gone back to his table.

"I, um," Eren painfully tried to remember how to speak. "I used the third prompt. It seemed like the easiest to work with."

And that made him sound like he wasn't putting any effort into the class, when in reality he had spent an hour on that assignment and still wasn't happy with it. Poetry in general confused him. The only reason other people liked his writing was because they said that he had charming characters and dialogue that engaged the reader.

His narration in the stories that his teachers liked was mediocre, and he still didn't understand what it was like to feel emotion through reading something. Aside from Levi's story that is, but that was different. The prompt he ended up writing for had instructed him to include the line "Hello, dear stranger, can you see me too?" at any point of the poem.

Eren didn't really get it. The first two prompts had made even less sense to him, but when I had tried to ask his teacher about is she had told him to choose the prompt that he could connect to the best emotionally. He lacked whatever emotion their teacher was talking about.

But now Levi probably thought that he was lazy and didn't care about his work. Not like Eren had the pride to defend himself from this opinion. At this point he just felt lost.

"The other prompts were shit."

If Levi's words surprised Eren, then his actions left him completely baffled. Instead of walking away, Levi sat down on the bench next to him. Eren couldn't breathe.

"So you used that one too?" Eren tried to continue the conversation.

"I didn't write it yet."

"Oh." Eren didn't point out that it was due at the end of the day.

Eren watched Levi's line of sight fall away from him and onto the birds. The mother had just succeeded in getting the scone out of the bag. The baby bird still did not break pieces off on his own. Eren wondered what it felt like to be able to rely on a parent so heavily. Well, it was probably different for a bird than it would be for a kid.

"Is it yours?" Levi asked. Eren assumed he meant to scone.

"It was on the table when I got here," Eren answered sheepishly. "I knocked it over for them."

Another bird flew over, landing near the mother. It tried to take a piece of the scone, but the mother bird squawked loudly at it. In two swift hops she chased the other bird away from the scone and the baby. Eren watched it fly away, landing on the window of the school building in fort of them.

"Bullies," Levi commented.

"It's her food," Eren heard himself state before he realized he was talking.

"Because you gave it to her?" Levi's voice was neutral.

"She was here first," Eren mumbled.

"You've only been writing for a year."

The change of subject didn't catch Eren off guard. Their class was probably the only reason that Levi was talking to him. That didn't mean that Levi's words made Eren feel any less uneasy. It wasn't a question, they both knew that Eren was inexperienced and not right for a high skilled class.

"Less than a year," Eren admitted.

"It took that long for you to realize that you're good at it?" Levi didn't sound surprised, and this did nothing to make the motive behind the question clear.

"I'm not good at it," Eren blurted.

"Is that what you think or what people are telling you?"

Eren finally looked away from the birds and at Levi's face.

"I, um," Eren rubbed the back of his neck. "Both, I guess. I didn't work to get into the class. I just lucked out."

"Don't confuse luck and talent."

Eren was spared responding to this by the school bell ringing. In the next minute the courtyard was going to be full of other students. Levi stood from his seat, but regarded Eren one more time before he started walking away.

"You should learn how to trust yourself," he looked slightly annoyed.

"Okay." This wasn't something that Eren had been told before.

"And don't listen to the shit that our classmates say," Levi added. "They're all idiots who couldn't get higher than a B in ninth-grade English."

This made Eren laugh.

When the doors to classrooms began opening, the two birds bid farewell the their breakfast and fluttered away. Eren picked up the discarded paper bag, deciding to leave what was left of the scone Incase they came back the next period. It was only when he was tossing the bag into the trash that Eren realized the birds hadn't cared when Levi had walked over to the table.

Was it bad that the thought made a grin spread across his face?

* * *

When homework was due, Eren's creative writing teacher preferred to have a student collect all of it and put the stack on her desk. She didn't like how long it took for everyone to walk to the back of the room and didn't think that a group high schoolers were able to neatly stack paper. That day she asked Eren to quietly collect his classmates' work while she began explaining why she had them do this exercise.

No on made eye-contact with Eren, instead pretending that they didn't notice him standing in front of them and taking the piece of paper off of their desks. Not that he cared. He was just glad that this meant no one had to see his crumpled paper and it's many obvious eraser marks.

When he reached Levi's desk he was slightly surprised that there was a poem sitting there to begin with. He doubted that Levi was lying when he said that he hadn't written it earlier that day, and he hadn't pinned Levi as the sort of writer to rush through the assignment at the last minute. Regardless, Eren picked up the unwrinkled sheet of paper with it's neatly printed writing.

He didn't mean to read the title. He understood why it was rude to do so. He had been able to resist looking over all of the other poems in his hands. However, his eyes rebelled against his better judgment and greedily landed on the header of the page.

Bird Feeder

It took all of Eren's will power not to openly gape. His gaze whipped to Levi, craving some sort of explanation. Aside from an ever so slight smirk that tugged at Levi's lips, he gave Eren no acknowledgment.

Reluctantly Eren walked passed Levi's desk. He could feel his face heating up, but had no idea how he was supposed to react. Levi Ackerman wrote a poem about him.

Levi Ackerman wrote a poem about him.

It was almost painful to continue collecting the papers and set them on his teacher's desk. By the time he sat down himself he was afraid the people around him could hear how loud his heart was hammering. He didn't hear a single word of his teacher's lesson, his brain was too occupied trying to process the whirling questions.

Levi had said that he only liked the third prompt, but how could "hello, dear stranger, can you see me too" relate to Eren. Was it because they didn't know each other. Did Levi just want to write about what he observed a random stranger doing?

Was he making fun of Eren feeding the birds or...

It couldn't be that. It was impossible. This wasn't one of Armin's books. In real life the guy of your dreams doesn't fondly write a poem about you feeding birds. Not when you're an annoying freshman with a very limited skill set.

Then again, Levi hadn't dismissed him as such earlier. He had at least implied that he thought Eren had some talent before telling him to "trust himself." If he didn't think that Eren was a useless kid, then how exactly had he mentally labeled him?

Eren only registered that class was over when his classmates began packing up their things and exiting to room. He rushed to shove his notebook and pens into his bag. There really had been no use in getting them out, since he hadn't participated or taken notes at all. Eren didn't like to be the last to leave a class, so he didn't linger in the room any longer than was needed. He was halfway down the hall when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"I think you dropped this," Levi put a folded paper in Eren's hands.

Eren didn't have the chance to do anything aside from stare before Levi was walking away. He knew for a fact that he hadn't dropped any sort of paper in the classroom or hallway. A feeling that I didn't dare call hope took hold on him as he slid the paper into his pocket. If it was what he thought it was, he wasn't going to read in in a hallway full of noisy people.

He purposely sat in the back of the room of his next class. His history teacher usually didn't care if everyone was paying attention as long as they were quiet. It took a few minutes for him to summon the courage to pull the piece of paper out of his pocket. He gingerly unfolded it.

Bird Feeder was scrawled on the header.

Eren's heart skipped a beat. He hated how completely cheesy the situation felt. If this really was some sort of joke, then Levi had completely gotten the better of him. He had to remind himself that he didn't know for sure that it wasn't a joke. He didn't know if that was something Levi would do. Doing his best to push the anxious worries away, he continued reading.

Naivety,  
Pure and dangerous,  
Beaten from me,  
Carried away by the talons of reality.  
Accumulated like a fog around you,  
It glasses over your judgement and turns in on yourself.

We exist in different layers,  
Offensive,  
Defensive.

Kindness cannot reach humans,  
Yours reverberates around your,  
It latches to what is nearest.

These creatures cannot speak,  
They do not call out to you,  
They have not watched with baited breath,  
Lingering hope,  
You see them because they do not see you.

My voice is drawn from my throat,  
Caught by the air,  
It hits it's unintended mark.

Grassy unfocused eyes,  
Hello, dear stranger, can you see me too?

"What are you reading?" Armin's voice startled Eren. He hadn't realized that he friend has sat down next to him.

"Nothing," he stated instinctually, then realized Armin could be some help here. "Actually, what do you think this means?"

He handed the paper to Armin. Although the boy was usually a fast reader, he took his time to scan the page. Eren tapped his fingers on the edge of the desk. Armin's pace was not soothing his nerves.

"Who wrote it?" Armin asked when he finished.

"Someone in my class," Eren tried to say this dismissively, but he couldn't force a casual tone.

"Someone in your class wrote a poem about you?" Armin looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"It's not about me," Eren said a little too quickly.

"Yes it is," Armin grinned. "Who wrote it? I thought you didn't have any friends in there."

"How did you know?" Eren asked back.

"Grassy eyes," Armin stated as if this was a no-brainer.

"My eyes are grassy?" Eren stopped Armin from answering this by reminding him of his initial question. "But what do you think the poem means?"

"I don't get what you're asking," Armin replied. "Do you need help analyzing it?"

"No," Eren shook his head. "I wanna know why he wrote it."

Armin giggled.

"What?"

"Nothing," Armin said unconvincingly. "Maybe you should talk to your classmate."

"Yeah," Eren sighed.

That was probably the best solution. Eren wasn't done processing. Maybe he was reading the poem wrong. That had to be it, right? Until that morning he hadn't spoken to Levi once. He didn't know how to talk to him. They were strangers. Maybe that was why Levi wrote the poem about him. Maybe he was trying to make Eren feel better. Maybe it wasn't supposed to feel so intimate.

"Hey, Armin?" Eren looked back at his friend.

"Yeah?" Armin's attention had been on whatever their teacher was saying. Eren almost felt bad for distracting him.

"If you wanted to know someone—like romantically know them—would you write them something like that?" He whispered the question, not wanting to risk his peers overhearing.

Armin smiled again.

"Personally, I wouldn't," he admitted. "But I think some people might."

Eren nodded. He did need to talk to Levi. Whether or not the prospect scared him half to death.

"Eren?" Armin was still looking at him.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

* * *

Eren wasn't sure where to find Levi at the end of the day. The school wasn't very big, but he didn't have time to go to every hang out spot in a building. However, if Levi expected Eren to look for him, maybe he'd try to make the job easier. That was how Eren wound up sitting at the same table in the courtyard that he had that morning.

It was far less peaceful at the end of the day. Most of the other tables were occupied with talkative students. Eren felt a little out of place sitting alone.

Levi didn't walk over to him, but Eren hadn't expected him to. Instead he walked through the courtyard at a casual pace, giving Eren plenty of opportunity to approach him. It would have been easier on Eren's nerves if he had just sat down next to him like he had earlier that day. But this wasn't supposed to be easy. Slinging his bag over his shoulder as he stood from the table, Eren hurried to meet Levi half way through the courtyard.

"Hey," he said to get Levi's attention.

"Eren," Levi didn't stop walking, but slowed his pace a little.

"This is yours," Eren blurted, holding out a folded piece of paper.

Levi just looked at him. Misunderstanding attempted to break his neutral facade, but he covered it well. It was doubtful that anyone aside from Eren would have noticed the pained twinge in his expression. It was alright if he thought the wrong thing for the moment, as long as it took the note.

Not caring that there were other people around them that were possibly watching, Eren grasped Levi's hand. He pressed the folded paper into Levi's palm. With a small smile, Eren took a step back.

"I'll see you in class," he managed to say.

Running would have ruined the demeanor he was trying to portray. It took all of Eren's will power to walk away at a normal pace. He could feel a nervous flush forming on his face.

Not having any reason to stay on campus, Eren headed to the school's gate. His house wasn't far from the school, and it was easier for his parents if he walked home. Sometimes Armin or Mikasa would accompany him, but today Mikasa had martial arts after school and Armin had said something about homework.

He had made it a block away from school when he heard someone shout his name behind him. Whirling around, his eyes met Levi's. Levi held the paper Eren had given him in his hand. It was now unfolded and from this angle Eren could see the his own bold handwriting on it's face. He was too far away to read the words, but he remembered exactly what he had rushed to scribble at the end of his history class.

Admiration,  
It steals away my words,  
I can't approach you and didn't think you'd talk to me,  
I didn't expect to read words from your hand,  
I don't know what you want to hear.

If kindness cannot reach humans what do I used to get to you?

You call me a stranger,  
All that word means to me is that there is so much I want to learn about you,  
I don't know what it means to you,  
You're words know me better than any stranger has.

"I'm not really good at poetry," Eren stated. "My lines are too long and I didn't know how to end it."

"You didn't pay attention in class," Levi sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

"No," Eren admitted. "But someone distracted me."

"I'm not going to apologize." A smirk spread across Levi's face.

"I don't want you to," Eren grinned back.

Eren didn't register Levi closing the distance between the two of them, but in seconds cool lips were brushing against his. The kiss was tentative, as if Levi was unsure if this was what Eren wanted. Eren watched him pull back with an unspoken question. Quickly his hands found Levi's. They were softer than he expected them to be.

This time Eren leaned forward, pressing his open mouth to Levi and closing his eyes. A small gasp escaped from Levi's throat, and Eren couldn't stop himself from smiling into the kiss. When they had to pull away for air Levi was smiling too.

"Do you wanna go get coffee or something?" Eren didn't have the chance to think of a better way to ask this.

"Are you asking me out?" Levi raised an eyebrow.

"Well, um," Eren rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, you just kissed me so I thought-"

"Coffee sounds great," Levi cut him off.

"Okay," Eren smiled.

"Lead the way, Bird Feeder."


End file.
